Nerlens Noel

Nerlens Noel went #6 to the New Orleans Pelicans and was traded to the 76ers as we all know. His former teammate and current Wildcat, Willie Cauley-Stein who plays the same position is projected to go #6 in next years draft. So let's just say Nerlens is going to be drafted #6 no matter which year he enters. That being said, do you think Nerlens would have stayed another year to play with an All American loaded recruiting class for a better chance at a national title, potentially break Anthony Davis's single season block record, and possibly go 40-0?

As a fan of Kentucky I like to think he would have stayed if he knew he would drop outside the top 3 but I'm biased. What do you guys think?

Probably not. He already got injured in college. No need to risk anything further. Plus 2014 draft class up top >>>> 2013 draft class up top.
These kids don't go to Kentucky for legacy or to help build the program They sign on in hopes of turning pro ASAP.

I think he did the right thing, he could have been number 1 and could have been number 10, has a serious injury and no amused select a center injured Oden after the event. That said, he will return to be 100%, Nerlens is a hard working guy and not think about anything else other than to recover and be able to help his team.

There was no way that Noel would have come back for his sophomore season, especially after his ACL injury. Calipari has created a culture of one and dones at Kentucky and concvinced his blue chip recruits that after a year of college ball that they can be drafted high and make millions. Many people might disagree with this recruiting philosophy but Calipari is a master at connecting with young recruits.

WCS as a top 6 guy might be high but who knows? Lots of talent in next year's draft but it is mostly
unproven. It could also end up being a top heavy draft too. Who knows? But WCS has as much talent as
anyone.

And there is a Calipari premium too. Coach Cal knows talent, goes after guys he wants, then maximizes their
talents in his system and then goes out and wins. Cal is a lot like John Wooden in this regard. Both are basically above
the law too.

I think Coach Cal will maximize WCS this year and that will help his draft stock. But I think he will need to find a good situation in
the pros. I don't see him as a superstar who will just put some random team on his back.

People either don't talk or don't realize just how bad his injury affected his stock. For the record had Noel never got injured he would of been the clear number one pick. He might be the best run and jump 7foot athlete since Wilt. I'm not saying he has Wilts pure strength or offensive creativity and aggression but in terms of height length and pure speed and hops Noels is in a class wit Wilt and the Dream.

But like Davis and Cousine before him, Noels didn't get a chance to show off his full offensive arsenal and yes he has some moves.

For starters Noels has enough ball handling ability to take a big to the basket. In high school Noels would often take the D board and dribble it coast to coast often weaving in and out of traffic against players much smaller who should of stripped him. While the NBA is clearly not high school the film still showed a 7footer with quick hands and feet who had the agility to stop and accelerate again with the ball in his hands. It alsoshowed raw but very promising ball handling ability. The ball handling ability he showed was in fact similar to raw athletic wing prospects like Poythress.

With the greater spacing in the NBA Noel will get the chance to take bigs off the dribble from the high post in a straight line as often as the team allows him too and despite his weight Noel possess outstanding finishing ability being crazy quick off his feet and often utulizing his freaky length to finish over almost anybody near the rim.

Noels truly has enough speed and lateral quickness to guard perimeter defenders with no problem. He couldntnplay on the perimeter on offense because of his poor shooting but if he could shoot even a little then your talking about a player who could realistically the even start on the perimeter.

No Nerlans isn't a prolific post scorer but again the tools are there for greatness. NN has zero trouble shooting a hook over either should and actually shows nice touch 10 and in. And because he has such rareagility for his size his footwork will surely come along.

At the end of the day if NN can stay healthy I think you're looking at a much more explosive and aggressive Joakhim Noah

You Are underestimating some of noel's weakneses. He has the speed to take guys off the dribble, but that speed won't matter in the half court if they can play 5 feet off you cause you can't hit a 15 footer. I mean have you seen his shooting form? It's straight up broke. 50% ft shooter. I watched a vid of him shooting around by himself with no defense in an empty gym and his shot was ugly. Also, he weighed 206 at the combine. There are pg's who weigh more then him. He will not move guys in the NBA around one inch. He Is a great passer in large part because as soon as he touches the ball, his first thought is move it. He doesn't have the mentality to be assertive so he automatically resorts to being a facilitator. Your Noah comparison isn't off at all, but comments like " he could start on the perimeter in the NBA if he could shoot" or " I'm not saying he has wilts offensive skills, but..." are like me saying Tony Allen could be an all-star if he had ray allens jumper or Alex Len isn't as strong as shaq but...

Everything is perception Perez. I understand fully what you just said but allow me to eleborate because I know my view of him is more realistic then wrong its just often hard to fully spell out but by youpointimg out a few critiques that I can easily eleborate on to hopefully provide a more detailed analysis of NN potential.

FYI this is even more difficult doing from my phone.

The Wilt can be interpreted as a waste of breathe like you pointed out making the statement seem irrelevantbut its not. This is why. 7 footers are rare. Freakish athletes are rare. So by simple reasoning I think we can all agree freakishly athletic 7 footers are of the rarest cloth. Wilt is the prototype for that cloth and after him Hakeem and Garnett came into the league of that cloth. Its Nerlans Noels once a generation physical traits that put him in the same sentence as Wilt. I left Shaq and other out of this because I'm taking into account pure speed and not just hops size and quickness. Like Wilt before him, Noels is not only 7 footbut hell also be one of the if not the fastest players end to end on the court every single game.

Physically from a height and speed standpoint Noels has few peers even looking back in history. Even The Dream and Howard aren't true 7 footers like Noels is. Noels abiliy to beat everybody down the floor and dunk will be a nightmare to contain. Them 2 abilities is what got Cody Zeller drafted 4th.

Yes Noel weighed in at 206 pounds and yes he will get pushed around. However anybody who saw the recent rookie photo shoots can believe he's back up to atleast 220 and looks much more filled out. I think he lost weight whn he got hurt to keep weight off his knee and to avoid geting outta shape because in the high school camps his sr year he was weighing much more then 206.

But Noels game and tenacity will ensure him success despite his weight. Hes gifted enough to get bullied all the way to the rim and still generate enough force to block the shot. On offense he finishes with a tremendous amount of force. Hes tenacious and intense and similar to Iverson hell use that tenacity to compensate

John Henson had been at times dominate playing at link 215 pounds because of his length mobility and skill. While Noels isn't nearly as skill d as Henson he's much much much more explosive and athletic and unlike Henson Noels desire has never been in question. NN is a hustler who grinds and gets after it on every play. Those are the type of traits you either got or don't and NN has it in spades. Its those traits that label a player as either a young stud or a project with potential. Those traits will ensure he reaches his potential.

And Perez I did mention how bad his shooting is and mentioned how if he could shoot just even a littles bit he could play wing. But I never made any comments about him possibily playing wing in the future because ur right his shooting is really bad. But what's not bad is his touch on hooks and floaters showing promise as an eventual 3rd option.

The one thing I disagree with completely is his passing. You think he passes just because h doesn't know what to do with the ball I couldn't disagree more. Watch the film and you'll see a player who can actually read the game well with otherwordly anticipation skills. NN has made fantastic touch passes numerous time proving he has a great feep for passing.

I think Noels will score very similarly to Amare outta high school. By staying active, getting open underneath and using his speed to beat bigs from the baseline.
Physically he compares very favorably to Garnett by all standards and even has more speed and hops KG

"The one thing I disagree with completely is his passing. You think he passes just because h doesn't know what to do with the ball I couldn't disagree more. Watch the film and you'll see a player who can actually read the game well with otherwordly anticipation skills. NN has made fantastic touch passes numerous time proving he has a great feep for passing"

You misunderstood me on this point. I believe he is a great passer with an extremely high iq and has a very good ability to read the court. I never suggested he only passes because he doesn't know what to do. I said I believe he is such a good passer in large part because he views himself as a lesser option offensively and his first instinct is to read the floor as opposed to attack. There were numerous times he caught the ball with both feet in the paint at kentucky and immediately looked for teammates before his own shot. It's similar to Luke Walton who was an incredible passer and read the court great in large part because he was a weak scorer who didn't have the skill or mentality to go at his own.

As far as him being a great athlete, no doubt about it. But Tyson Chandler, Ryan Hopkins, Blake griffin, serge ibaka, farried, McGee, deandre Jordan etc are all great athletes as well. Noel isn't gonna simply get by on that alone. He's got a lot of work to do.

He might be the best run and jump 7foot athlete since Wilt.
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Ridiculous. Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson and Kevin Garnett are all at least as tall as Noel and were just as good as run/jump athletes. There are others as well (Tyson Chandler, Greg Oden, JaVale McGee, even Yi Jianlian), I just don't want to list them all.

Physically from a height and speed standpoint Noels has few peers even looking back in history. Even The Dream and Howard aren't true 7 footers like Noels is.
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Even more ridiculous. Noel isn't a "true" 7 footer either. Hakeem and Noel are both 6-10 without shoes, what exactly makes Noel a true 7 footer while Hakeem was not?

I get it; you think Noel is a very good prospect and I can see why that is, I had him as the #2 player on my board but no need to exaggerate what he can do...

Noel is an elite athlete and I really hope that post injury his athletic ability remains. My worry about him is his lack of bulk in the paint. Look how Roy Hibbert manhanded Tyson Chandler in the play offs and Tyson is an all star, former DPOY, who outweighs Noel by 40lbs and has a dozen years NBA experience on him.

I can see Noel's insane athleticism and length being a defensive nighmare in the NBA and if he develops real timing he'll outjump the heavier frontcourt guys like Hibbert to get to rebounds and blocks but unless he does get great timing, he'll take a lot of knocks from the physically bigger frontcourt guys.

I never quite understood how Noel managed to lose 10 to 16lbs in weight from 2012 to 2013 unless he was dieting. With him being injured, you'd assume he'd put on weight as he'd not be able to train much and would be sat around. So I do wonder how hard will it be for him to gain and retain weight whilst playing an 82 game season.